It was Sunday afternoon. Only two weeks had passed since I had first met Katherine. To celebrate "our anniversary" we met after work in the same restaurant and then went for a walk through Sarajevo. We slurped a strawberry frappee in a street cafe then confirmed our walk, engaging in a spontaneous embrace!
"Sarajevo is small! I don't want anyone to see us!" Katherine told me. We walked further, from the Jez building to the river, crossing at the first bridge. The water accompanied our discussions up to the destroyed National Library. Then we walked back to where we had started from.
Tango
The next weekend we arranged to go to the ballet 'The Power of Pain'. I waited until just before eight at the concert hall; Katherine didn't show up. I felt frustrated! I went to the ballet by myself. After the performance I was very nervous. I looked for Katherine around the National Theatre but was simply unable to find her. I ran over to her office two blocks away. A colleague looked up at me:
"Katherine left the office five minutes ago!" I ran back to the National Theatre - and who was there: Katherine and another colleague! I felt the frustration right down inside me. She smiled at me; what charm, she enchanted me, I could not resist, I suddenly cheered up again!
The three of us walked to a party that had been organised by IFOR soldiers at the top of an building. I danced a tango with Katherine above the roofs of Sarajevo. "What a wonderful, stylish woman!" I dreamed. We looked out a tiny window, the sky over Sarajevo was deep blue, like the sea in Dubrovnik. Later I wrote to her:
Dear Katherine! To dance with you is like flying over Sarajevo and walking on air! I wish I could once dance with you over the sea!
Renato!